On Tuesday, Senator Maria Cantwell announced that the Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act had cleared the Senate Energy and Natural resources Committee.  The vote on the bipartisan piece of legislation was unanimous.  Cantwell said the legislation will increases the use of technology to keep firefighters and communities safe, better reduce the risks from wildfires, and increase the effectiveness of wildfire response.

 

“We owe it to the brave men and women who risk their lives to fight wildfires to equip them with the best available technology, to keep them safe, and to ensure their efforts are effective.”

 

Included in the bill are measures to increase firefighter safety by providing crews on wildfires with GPS locators and using Unmanned Aircraft Systems to scout out and map wildfires in real-time.

 

The full text of the Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act can be found here.

 

 

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